Intercultural Business Management Intercultural Business Management

【授業の目標 / Course Objectives】

1. Students will better understand the challenges and rewards of managing cultural differences and be better prepared to take on roles that require them to manage in intercultural contexts.
2. Students will understand their own intercultural management style and how it impacts those with whom they interact.
3. Students will identify personal intercultural competencies and understand how to develop intercultural competencies.

【授業の内容 / Course Contents】

Studies show that managers spend up to 90% of their time interacting with other people. In the 21st century many managers are likely to work with people who are culturally diverse. This course focuses on understanding how to lead across cultural differences and on developing managerial competencies related to effective intercultural interactions.

• Effective managers, first and foremost, have an accurate understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses as a manager. For this reason, this course includes a series of personal assessments designed to help the students better understand their own intercultural management style.

• Effective managers have a good sense of cultural differences, and where they are likely to emerge. Effective managers, however, use presumed cultural differences as a starting point for understanding – and avoid stereotypes. This course will examine current theory and research on cultural differences. We will also examine how problems in cross-cultural management often emerge less from cultural differences themselves, than from our own inability to perceive difference accurately or, even worse, our insistence on finding difference where it does not exist.

• Effective managers have a set of interpersonal tools. These include skills in communication, conflict management, teamwork, power and influence, and negotiation. These skills, of course, cannot be learned in one course. This course offers a general introduction to skills in these areas, and practice in using these skills in a cross-cultural context.

The objectives of this course will be achieved mostly through lectures, discussion, presentations, and experiential activities as well as assignments that you complete outside of class.

【授業計画 / Course Schedule】

【活用される授業方法 / Teaching Methods Used】

板書 /Writing on the Board
スライド（パワーポイント等）の使用 /Slides (PowerPoint, etc.)
上記以外の視聴覚教材の使用 /Audiovisual Materials Other than Those Listed Above
個人発表 /Individual Presentations
グループ発表 /Group Presentations
ディスカッション・ディベート /Discussion/Debate
実技・実習・実験 /Practicum/Experiments/Practical Training
学内の教室外施設の利用 /Use of On-Campus Facilities Outside the Classroom
校外実習・フィールドワーク /Field Work
上記いずれも用いない予定 /None of the above

【授業時間外（予習・復習等）の学習 / Study Required Outside of Class】

There are two major components of the course that will be completed outside of class. Each is described below.

INTERCULTURAL FIELD EXPERIENCE

20 points of the course grade will be based on an intercultural fieldwork experience that entails crossing into another culture. Details of the project are presented below. The Fieldwork Report is due at the start of Session 14. Reports submitted after that will receive a 10% deduction for each day or fraction of a day late.

Intercultural Field Experience

This assignment is intended to give you a chance to practice several skills learned through the course. The objective is to simulate, as closely as possible, what it would be like for you to go and work in a culture new to you. Students will choose a subculture setting about which they are unfamiliar, then spend a period of time in the subculture in a way that allows some participation in it (as distinct from just observing the culture or interviewing its members), with the goal of interacting effectively within that culture.

When choosing a culture, keep in mind that culture is a group phenomenon. Therefore, spending a day with just one member of a culture will not enable you to observe or experience any more than that one person’s views, which may or may not be representative of the culture as a whole. Past examples for this project include athletic teams, communities with different ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds, other schools, professions, and organizations.

The emphasis in the fieldwork assignment is on experiential learning. One of the most difficult aspects of any intercultural assignment is entry into a new culture. The task in this assignment is to experience entry into and working within another culture directly (as opposed to studying or speculating about it). Pay attention to your own behavior and reactions in the period prior to your first contact as well as during your experience and afterwards.

This fieldwork assignment is required of all course participants and must be a new experience organized with the fieldwork report in mind. It cannot be a retrospective examination of an experience you’ve had (even if dramatic and recent). This requirement may seem unreasonable to those with cross-cultural experience. However, you will be bringing to this experience a consciousness about what you are doing, and a set of concepts for analyzing the experience, that should result in greater learning than could be gained from “revisiting” a past experience. You must

A word about ethics: Do not misrepresent yourself or the Institute in approaching a group to request entry. Keep in mind, too, that you are the one asking for a favor. How you ask and what explanation you provide need to be sensitive to the other group’s needs and perceptions as well as to your own need to meet the course requirements. Speak with me if you have questions.

A word about safety: Don’t get yourself into dangerous situations (e.g., organized crime, political conflicts, etc.).

Report

The report on your fieldwork experiences should include the following items:

1. Description of the subculture you chose and why you chose it. This should include your expectations about the culture.

2. Preparation for entering the culture - reading, thinking about it, contacting people, collecting information, etc.; concepts considered to be of potential use.

3. Gaining entry - how you did it. Contact person, how contacted, permission, etc.

4. Description of the experience and the main cultural differences you experienced. Remember that you are a part of the experience; you are part of the differences.

5. Description of what “cultural shock,” if any, you experienced, your reactions to it, and how you adapted.

6. Reflection - what you learned from the experience (including what you learned about yourself, if appropriate): feelings, learnings /insights; links with international business, the course material and other readings and/or experiences; things confirmed, disconfirmed; surprises - both positive and negative.

7. Recommendations - how will you enhance your cross-cultural entry next time?

Evaluation

Because of the personal and experiential nature of this assignment, it will be graded on a “contract” basis. You may choose to pursue either the “95” or the “85” version of the project, as outlined below. In either scenario, the outline of the report is the same (see above). You will earn a “75” or lower if you do not meet the experiential or reflective objectives of the project, even if you submit a complete report.

“85%” version (expected to meet course objectives). Select a culture that is new to you; prior to entry conduct research on the culture; then spend at least eight hours interacting in that culture (i.e., in addition to preparation time, arriving, leaving, etc.). Complete all sections of the report thoughtfully. The report is likely to be 9-12 pages long (12 pt. font, double-spacing, not including cover pages, pictures/illustrations, charts, or tables).

“95%” version (going beyond course objectives). Select a culture that is clearly unique to you and which you have some compelling reason for wanting to enter. Prepare for your entry carefully, using multiple sources of information. Spend at least twelve hours over at least two different types of occasions interacting in that culture. Ensure that your effectiveness is assessed somehow. Complete all sections of the report thoughtfully. The report is likely to be 12-15 pages long.

If you intend to pursue a “95” grade on the project, you must submit a 1-page proposal for your project by the start of Session 5. The proposal should outline the culture you plan to enter, your

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCY PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Personal Development Program. Select one IES competency that you want to improve (e.g., adaptability, valuing different perspectives, etc.). Following session 4, intensely study all you can about the competency you want to develop, using both Internet and published resources. Based on your research, develop a concrete, daily personal development plan of how you can improve in this area. Submit a 1-page plan identifying your targeted competency and, using a SMART-goal approach, what you will do to develop it.

You will be required to implement this plan and report to Prof. Bird each week on Monday by 11:59pm as to how effective you were in the implementation of your plan during the previous week.

Weekly PDP Reports. Each student’s personal development plan will be unique to fit their own circumstances. The evaluation of the weekly PDP reports is designed to be personal and not competitive with others. Thus, students’ rate of progress will not be evaluated against or compared with other students’ outcomes on the weekly reports. This assignment is designed for you – and you only – to learn on your own how you can best develop inclusive competencies in your life. You cannot gain points by outperforming your peers; rather, you will be developing an inclusive competency that you want to develop. However, you can lose points on the Weekly PDP reports. Penalties will occur for:
• Turning in a weekly PDP report late (-0.25 points per day).
• Not turning in a weekly PDP report at all (-2.5 points)
• Not providing rigorous and reflective analysis within a weekly PDP report (range of -.25 to -.75 points).

There is no reason to lose any points on this assignment – just write thoughtful weekly reports and turn them in on time.

Submit your weekly reports via Canvas on the date that each one is due. Your first report will be due on the Monday following session 5. These reports are due each Monday before 11:59 pm throughout the COURSE. The last report you will submit will be on the Monday following session 13.

In these weekly reports you should feel free to update your plan for the upcoming week based upon your progress and experience in implementing your plan during the previous week. Structure your reports to reflect on the outcomes of your weekly efforts in implementing your personal development plan by addressing each of the following three items in your reports (use these as sub-headings) and avoid using bullet points:
1. What Happened. A descriptive report of the outcomes associated with the implementation of your plan over the past week.
2. What I Learned. Insights you gained from the outcomes you described in #1
3. What I Will Do. What will your plan be for the upcoming week based on #1 & #2?

【成績評価方法・基準 / Evaluation】

【テキスト / Textbooks】

なし/None

【参考文献 / Readings】

【履修にあたって求められる能力 / Abilities Required to Take the Course】

【学生が準備すべき機器等 / Equipment, etc., that Students Should Prepare】

【その他 / Others】

【注意事項 / Notice】

Sheltered Course(Min.TOEIC:730)